Ex-CNN Star Won’t Talk About The Firing

In his first interview on cable news since leaving CNN, former contributor Jeffrey Toobin addressed the now-infamous Zoom call that got him temporarily suspended from the network in 2021, Mediaite reported.

In 2020, Toobin, who also worked for The New Yorker, began masturbating during a Zoom meeting with the publication, unaware that his coworkers could see him.

The disgraced Toobin was dismissed from The New Yorker while CNN simply placed their former legal analyst on leave. He later returned to CNN in June 2021 before departing from the network in August of last year.

On Wednesday, Toobin appeared on “Dan Abrams Live” on NewsNation where he was asked to describe his life post-CNN.

To get it out of the way, Toobin addressed the infamous Zoom call, describing it as a “self-inflicted” disaster that he will “regret for the rest of my life.” Toobin said he had no excuses for what he did, “only apologies,” which he has made to “everyone involved,” including his family.

Noting that the incident was two and a half years ago, Toobin said that much has happened since that and most of it has been good.

But host Dan Abrams didn’t want to move on from the Zoom call. He asked how it happened, following up by asking if Toobin “just left open the screen.”

Not wanting to discuss the matter further, Toobin told Abrams that he would not “go into grisly details.” The only thing he would say is that he was not aware that other people were watching during the Zoom call. He added that it was “not an intentional act” on his part.

Toobin then recounted his final year as CNN’s legal analyst, saying he felt fortunate that the network let him return after the suspension.

When asked if he was fired by CNN, Toobin said his departure had been a “mutual decision.”